ECMO patients, however, pose a special challenge to the treatment team in connection with MRI diagnostics. "While adults have a tube inserted in the groin area to transport blood during ECMO therapy, children often have access at the neck. The patients have to be moved very carefully and the tube at the neck may only be moved minimally," explains Prof. Sabir. However, reliable diagnostics, for example of brain hemorrhages, is only possible with MRI imaging. The neonatology and pediatric intensive care team was therefore able to demonstrate in four pediatric ECMO patients that imaging using mobile MRI can be performed without any problems.

The patients studied were a newborn, a two-year-old, a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old child. One of the children was diagnosed with a major brain hemorrhage using the mobile MRI and was treated immediately. "The new findings prove that the scan can be performed safely. We obtained meaningful MRI images of the brain without changing the position of the neck cannula and without compromising the children's safety status. This represents an immense success for future MRI examinations of newborns and larger children who can only survive through the use of ECMO therapy," said Prof. Andreas Müller, Director of the Department of Neonatology at UKB.

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